About the Lake

MAP OF LAKE SCUGOG

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE LAKE

SCIENCE ABOUT THE LAKE

HISTORY OF THE LAKE

THE OPERATION OF THE DAM AT LINDSAY

FIRST NATIONS HISTORY AROUND THE LAKE

BIRDS OF SCUGOG

WILDLIFE

FISH IN LAKE SCUGOG

BUTTERFLIES

MARINAS, BOAT LAUNCHES AND RENTALS

MAP OF LAKE SCUGOG

Our site is still in development.  Please check back soon for our Map of Lake Scugog.

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE LAKE

Size of watershed:              533.7 sq. km.

Size of lake surface area:          68 sq. km.

Shoreline length:                          172 km.

Scugog Island shoreline               30.6 km. 

Seasonal lake fluctuation         20 to 50 cm.

Average depth:                              1.4 m.

Greatest depth:                              7.6 m.

Lake Scugog is a large shallow lake which can be found about one hour to the East from the city of Toronto, Canada. There are several major cities within a short driving distance with Oshawa to the south, Peterborough to the east and Lindsay to the north.  The historic town of Port Perry is found on its south/west shore.  

Water enters the lake from many sources, mainly the Nonquon River, Blackstock Creek and Cawker's Creek.  It is also fed by general runoff and from many springs along its shorelines and under its surface.  Water from Lake Scugog flows north through the Scugog River to Sturgeon Lake.  From there it travels through the Trent-Severn Waterway to the other Kawartha lakes and out to Lake Ontario.  It is possible to boat from Lake Scugog over to Lake Simcoe or down to Lake Ontario through this Waterway and is system of locks.

A navigational level of 250 m. above sea level is maintained by a dam in Lindsay built in the 1830's which raised the lake approximately six feet.  See the topic THE DAM AT LINDSAY for more information and contacts regarding its operation. 

Lake Scugog is considered a "eutrophic" lake in that it has, because of its age and other factors, an excess of the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus.  Because of this excess of nutrients, the lake has many aquatic plants and in few areas a good deal of algal growth.  In order to reduce the level of nutrients added by human and animal populations, Scugog Township has undertaken a multi-year research study to determine the quantities and sources of these anthropogenic pollutants.  

From this research a new remediation implementation strategy will be introduced in the summer of 2009 called the Lake Scugog Environmental Management plan.   

Lake Scugog is considered a 'jewel in the crown of Scugog'.  The Scugog Lake Stewards and the Township's approximately 24,000 residents recognize its importance to their economy, to their real estate values but most of all to the quality of their life. 

 

SCIENCE ABOUT THE LAKE

Sept2009, phosphorus pie chart.jpgLAKE SCUGOG ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN - Final Draft

See www.kawarthaconservation.com/lsemp or call 1-800-668-5722 about this important plan.   

Information is found under the headings:

  1. About Lake Scugog Strategies to Protect the Lake
  2. Take Action
  3. Study Results
  4. Methods of Study
  5. About Water Quality
  6. Lake Scugog Watershed Map
  7. Lake Survey for you to complete

 

NONQUON RIVER FISHERIES MANAGEMENT PLAN

For information on this plan, please use the "contact us" section of the www.kawarthaconservation.com website or call 1-800-668-5722.

 

NONQUON RIVER SUBWATERSHED STUDY

For information on this plan also get in touch with Kawartha Conservation as above.

 

HISTORY OF THE LAKE

HISTORY OF THE LAKEHISTORY OF THE LAKEHISTORY OF THE LAKEHISTORY OF THE LAKE

The original shape of Lake Scugog can be traced back to the last ice-age approximately 10,000 years ago.  Ice as much as 1.5 km. thick pushed down from the north scraping and excavating out deep valleys in soft limestone of the area.  At one point the glacier split into two lobes leaving a deep crevasse which, over thousands of years, received huge blankets of stratified sands, gravel and silt out-wash from the glacier.  This ridge is now called the Oak Ridges Moraine. In some places even now is over 300 meters in elevation and over 200 meters thick. 

This ridge prevented water runoff from the receding glaciers from running south to Lake Ontario.  Lake Scugog was formed with the excess water runoff leaving the lake north through what is now the Scugog River.  The original lake depth has been set at approximately 150 ft. Since that time the original lake aged relatively quickly because of the easily eroded glacial deposits surrounding it. 

When the first European settlers and surveyors arrived, Lake Scugog had filled in so that there were just two sluggish rivers running north to the Scugog River.  There were some areas of open water in the deeper areas and in the channels.  The rest was varied wetland with large areas of wild rice, cattails and finally -- deep in the acidic older areas -- vast areas of cranberries.  The current "Cartwright Lands" was a large tamarack swamp beloved by deer.  

In the 1830's permission was granted to build a grinding mill at Lindsay.  This required a "head" of water so the Scugog River was dammed bringing the lake up originally 10 ft.  This first dam was destroyed and the new dam, built further along the river only brought the lake up four feet. Without the dam at Lindsay now there would be no Lake Scugog as we know it now.

The first years of the new life of the lake were very turbulent times.  Many areas of forest, plowed field and even newly built settlers cabins were inundated by the new water level.  This caused years of decomposition and swamp gas within the Scugog basin which was very unhealthy.  Malaria had been introduced to the Province with work teams imported to dig the Rideau Canal.  Adding to woes at the time was a virulent Cholera epidemic.  

In the meantime, the new depths of Lake Scugog allowed the transport of goods and settlers north and huge quantities of logs and other goods south to the railhead in Port Perry. Scugog's dense maple, beech, pine and oak forests gave way to the settler's axe and agriculture became, and still is, the backbone of our economy.

The 1930's, 40's and 50's saw Lake Scugog as a convenient and pleasant vacation area, with hundreds of small summer cottages in tight, fun loving summer communities around the lake.  Slowly that changed, cottages grew up and became permanent residences.  They they grew further and became very desirable shoreline communities.   Life on the lake was good!

Slowly, slowly, however, Lake Scugog started aging once again.  The invasive exotic water plant, Eurasian Milfoil exploded on to the scene peaking in the 1980's.  This choking over abundance of plant life, began to recreate some of the conditions that existed after the erection of the dam.  There was too much decomposition, it was robbing the lake of its important oxygen.  

Nature to the rescue.   The native milfoil weevil, which normally just lived on the native milfoil in the lake, found the enjoyed the imported variety much better.  Their population burgeoned and soon the lake was not perfect but certainly enjoyable as a boater and fisherman's paradise. Crash!   Without the vast beds of Eurasian milfoil, the weevil numbers sank.   So, once again in 2006, the milfoil beds sprang back.  

Chemicals are out of the question.  Cutting is contra-productive and kills many tiny fish as the cut weed is collected.  Look to "What's New" section of this website to see what the Lake Stewards are working on to solve the problem. 

Meanwhile, much is being done to protect the lake through the planning process and the engagement of the public, business and agriculture.  The Lake Stewards look forward to knowing the Lake should be healthy for many more years to come.   

THE OPERATION OF THE DAM AT LINDSAY

THE OPERATION OF THE DAM AT LINDSAYTHE OPERATION OF THE DAM AT LINDSAYTHE OPERATION OF THE DAM AT LINDSAYTHE OPERATION OF THE DAM AT LINDSAY

The current operation of the dam and locks at Lindsay, and also the rest of the Trent-Severn Waterway up from Scugog and across to Simcoe and down to Lake Ontario through the Kawartha Lakes is the responsibility of Parks Canada through the Trent-Severn Waterway. www.trentsevernwaterway.com  All in all the Trent-Severn Waterway is 386 km. long and has 125 dams.  This complex waterway and all the locks are administered by Dave Ness, Water Control Engineer out of Peterborough.  

Lake Scugog has historically been treated differently than any other lake in the system is that it is NOT used as a "reservoir lake."  Reservoir lakes are reduced on an equal percentage basis throughout the summer season to keep the busy canals running. (approximately 175,000 boats per season).    Water from it is not used to refill any aspect of the Waterway including the lower Scugog River, nor is it used for power generation.  Any water take-down other than flood control traditionally takes place in late October and January, never in summer unless there are flood conditions.  

Usually around mid-June to earlyJuly, the TSW put in place the last stop-logs into the dam at Lindsay which controls our lake level.  Then the lake is on its own.  No water from the system can be shunted down to Lake Scugog to replenish lake levels.  All of Lake Scugog's water comes from its watershed or from precipitation and during times of drought there is much less water entering Lake Scugog than what leaves in evaporation. 

The unadorned truth is that Lake Scugog has a huge surface area in proportion to its depth which causes warm water and a high evaporation rate.  "On hot, windy summer days, I have seen the level of Lake Scugog drop a full centimeter in one day from evaporation" said Mac Ellis a long time area Superintendent of the system. This can make the lake level drop from spring high levels approximately a foot and a half. 

In 2007, a communication error between the Lindsay Lock Master and the Water Control Engineer resulted in two stop logs being left out of the dam for almost all of July during a very dry summer.  The lake level plummeted.  Low water resulted in wide mud flats at the shore and marooned boats. (See the photos at right)   Rightly, there was great concern from the Township, businesses and the general public and a realization of exactly how important a healthy Lake Scugog is to our economy.

The Trent-Severn Waterway has set the ideal level for Lake Scugog at 250.00 m. above sea level.  Above that, low lying septic beds can be compromised, shorelines erode and some basements become flooded.  Several year ago there was a meeting of concerned property owners on the lake to consider a higher normal level than 250.00 m.  Yes, people wanted more water, but no, few were ready to absolve the TSW of any damage a high water level might cause to their property.

If you are considering any erosion protection or other shoreline construction, a permit must be obtained from TSW before you start and any work must be placed behind the high water level line.

  

 

FIRST NATIONS HISTORY AROUND THE LAKE

FIRST NATIONS HISTORY AROUND THE LAKEFIRST NATIONS HISTORY AROUND THE LAKEFIRST NATIONS HISTORY AROUND THE LAKEFIRST NATIONS HISTORY AROUND THE LAKE

Lake Studies have shown that wild rice must have been introduced into Lake Scugog by First Nations people as early as 1200.  This is the first known chronological point showing evidence of aboriginal use of the area. 

In later years it is known that Lake Scugog was an important portage route from the northern Kawartha Lakes down to Oshawa Creek and Lake Ontario for First Nations travellers. Originally the area was appeared to be habited the Huron group of the more southerly Iroquois Nation -- related but deadly enemies.  As European settlement pushed west, the fur trade intensified, and disease decimated whole tribes, territorial conflicts intensified with the Iroquois to the south of the Great Lakes.  This conflict led to the virtual destruction of the Hurons, remnants of whom, travelled north to join the more northerly Anishinabek peoples.

The Anishinabek nation was and continues to be large and wide-spread across northern Canada from the East Coast to Alberta and to a lesser extent in many southern areas in what is now the U.S.A.  It is composed of a large number of sub groups, all sharing basically the same cultural roots and variations of the same language.  The sub-groups of this great nation that took in the remnant Hurons, were mainly the Ojibway, Potawatomi and the Odawas of north of Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe.  But the Iroquois victory was short as war, disease and distant supply lines weakened their strength.

The time was right for a move south by large groups of the Ojibway, Odawa and Potawatomi. They defeated the Iroquois in a series of bloody skirmishes and by 1700 the Anishinabek were in control enjoying all the benefits of Southern Ontario.  This lasted for a short 100 years when the first great numbers of European settlers started moving in, claiming permanent land rights, cutting trees and forever changing the nature of the once wild, heavily forested land of southern Ontario. 

The early Ojibway, and their sub-group the Mississaugas, settled around Lake Scugog and throught the Kawarthas.  Coming from a harsher climate, they were hunters and used to living a nomadic life and travelling in small family groups.  For a group of the Mississaugas, Lake Scugog was a summer camping area with plentiful game, fish, plant life and wild fowl.  After the fall wildfowl hunt, when the lake began to freeze over, they would travel south to Lake Ontario to spend the winter near the open water.  In early spring they would start making their way to the maple forests of the moraine where they would harvest sap and enjoy the spring egg laying and hatching season of the extremely plentiful passenger pigeons which nested in its oak groves. 

With European settlement came a long period of land loss, loss of cultural roots and status. Fortunately, this era has ended.  

The building of the dam in the 1830's at Lindsay was catastrophic for the Mississaugas of the area.  Their new settlement with a very progressive school was inundated by the summer floodwaters which destroyed most of their newly planted crops.  This loss of the food crop to the flood, private land restrictions which did not allow old hunting rights, cholera, malaria, malnutrition; resulted in the death of three quarters of the Mississauga community at the time.   The survivors temporarily left their land on the Lake Scugog shoreline and made their way to the Lake Simcoe area for several years.  When they returned, their land was in the hands of new settlers and they had to content themselves with a small reserve of 800 acres which they purchased on Scugog Island.

Now the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation carry on the proud traditions of the early Anishnabek from their reserve land on Scugog Island.   Long denied an opportunity to buy shoreline land, this group, through the profits from their Blue Heron Charity Casino, have been able to recently purchase the old "Seven Mile Island" property.  This property includes very beautiful and natural shoreline at the north end of Scugog Island. The charitable arm of the Casino called the Baagwating Community Association has been very generous to the Scugog Lake Stewards (as well as many, many other groups) and we are very grateful.  We wish them well with their new land acquisition.

For more on this story, visit Scugog Shores Museum and Village, on Scugog Island and view the re-created Mississauga summer camp there.  This reconstruction includes a  handmade authentically built birch canoe and many artifacts of the local Mississauga community.  It is surrounded by a wild area of native plants selected for their use by early First Nations people of the area for food, medicines and in spiritual ceremonies.  Call the museum at (905) 985-3589 or visit their website at www.scugogshoresmuseum.com 

 

BIRDS OF SCUGOG

BIRDS OF SCUGOG BIRDS OF SCUGOG BIRDS OF SCUGOG

Bruce F. Aikins, Scugog Point   bfa001@gmail.com 

References:  

Breeding Bird Atlas of Ontario 2001-2005 - Federation of Ontario Naturalists

Birds of the Scugog Basin    B.F. Aikins  2009  - Blurb Inc., www.Blurb.com

 

Let me make a bold statement.   The Scugog Basin is one of the richest birding areas in Ontario. This opinion is confirmed by the data collected in the second "Breeding Bird Atlas of Ontario" study which was completed in 2005.  It, once again, highlighted Scugog as a birding haven.

During migration each Spring and Autumn, there are many areas that have a significant number of species present from a few hours to a few days but the real measure of the prominence of an area is the number of species that call it "home."   There were 166 species present during the breeding season and of this total, 119 were confirmed as species that raise their young locally.   This is astounding.   There are only 300 species of nesting birds in all of Ontario’s 1,000,000 square kilometres and over 55% can be found resident in the 40 square kilometres of the Scugog Basin.

What makes our local area so attractive?  Primarily, it is the diversity of habitats.   There are towns and villages, farmland, grassland, forests, scrubland, marshes and almost every other variety of habitat necessary to satisfy the many diverse species that are potential residents.    

Is our local environment healthy when it comes to birdlife?  Apparently increasingly so….   there were more species reported and confirmed as breeding locally in this Atlas period which ran from 2001 to 2005 compared to the numbers reported in the first study that ran from 1981 to 1985.  As an interesting sidelight, there were species reported this time as breeding locally that were not even observed in the first study.  There is a distinct increase in the number of western and southern birds moving into the area with two examples being the Mockingbird and the House Finch.   Is this due to global warming?   Probably not because at the same time, the Common Loon which is normally associated with more northern climes is still present on Lake Scugog -- in spite of the growth of the lakeside communities.  In addition, the Merlin was confirmed as a breeding bird in the Scugog Basin for the first time during this study and it is normally a bird of more northern areas.   

We are lucky in Scugog to have such diversity.  From a tourism perspective, Birding has great potential for promotion, further supporting the local economy.  Or -- from a purely recreational opportunity for local residents, Birding, which is the fastest growing hobby activity in the world, is available to all.... so why not join in?   Enjoy "Our Birds" and the Scugog Basin.

Referenced below are two links that provide more detailed information on the Birds of Scugog

Species List as determined in a study conducted between 2001 and 2005 by a dedicated group of local birders.

Twenty of Scugog's most interesting breeding birds as seen in a variety of habitats in the Scugog Basin.

WILDLIFE

WILDLIFE WILDLIFE WILDLIFE

For an area within one hour's drive from Canada's largest City, Toronto, the Lake Scugog watershed is somewhat of an environmental island of healthy habitat and species diversity.   

As was explained in the section on birds of the area, we are blessed with a wide range of types of habitat ranging from:

Because of the growth restrictions imposed by the provincial Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation and Greenbelt plan, the Durham Region and Scugog Township Official Plans, and Greenlands system; population growth is not planned to exceed 2,975 persons by 2031.

This leaves plenty of space for wildlife. 

Larger local terrestrial animal life:

Larger animals making their home around local water bodies.

 

FISH IN LAKE SCUGOG

Information to come soon edited by:   Ken Oldfield, and Rev. Sandy Beaton with approval from Fisheries and Oceans Canada. 

BUTTERFLIES

BUTTERFLIES

This section of the site to be populated next.

MARINAS, BOAT LAUNCHES AND RENTALS